Iran denies test-firing rockets near USA carrier

United States president Barack Obama’s administration is preparing new sanctions against worldwide companies and individuals over Iran’s ballistic missile programme, sources familiar with the situation said on Wednesday.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards denied that its naval forces had been involved in a December 26 incident in which the U.S. said rockets came close to the USS Harry S Truman aircraft carrier in the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

The White House has delayed plans to slap new sanctions on Iran over its test-firing of ballistic missiles, a USA news report said Thursday, amid fears it could jeopardize a hard-won nuclear deal with Tehran.

After 23 minutes, the Iranian boats fired “several unguided rockets” about 1,370 meters (1,500 yards) from the warships and commercial traffic, he said.

“Firing weapons so close to passing coalition ships and commercial traffic within an internationally recognized maritime traffic lane is unsafe, unprofessional and inconsistent with worldwide maritime law”, he said.

In 2012 Iran threatened to block the strait, which lies at the entrance of the Gulf and is 33km (21 miles) wide at its narrowest point.

“As the USA government is clearly still pursuing its hostile policies and illegal meddling… the armed forces need to quickly and significantly increase their missile capability”, Mr Rouhani wrote in a letter to defence minister Hossein Dehghan, published on the state news agency IRNA. Raines said commercial sea traffic also was nearby, though the missiles weren’t fired in the direction of any ships.

Western media reported on Tuesday that the IRGC fired rockets near the USA aircraft-carrier Harry S. Truman as it was about to enter the Persian Gulf on Saturday.

A French military official, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to publicly named, confirmed the rocket fire took place Saturday.

The Guards naval unit is responsible for securing Iranian interests in the Strait, a vital waterway for a large proportion of the world’s oil, regularly patrolling the area and conducting exercises. “While most interactions between Iranian forces and the U.S. Navy are professional, safe, and routine, this event was not and runs contrary to efforts to ensure freedom of navigation and maritime safety in the global commons”. The development seems to indicate that the historic arrangement between the USA and Iran appears to be on the right track.

Rouhani criticised Thursday the apparent U.S. moves, saying Iran’s domestic defence had never been within the remit of the nuclear talks. Kevin Stephens, a spokesman for the U.S. Fifth Fleet, said in a statement.

Since the July 14 deal, Iran has conducted missile tests criticised by the US.